When a Company Name Becomes a Trademark Problem in China
A foreign founder once asked me a reasonable question: “If I register my Chinese company legally, isn’t the name mine to use?”
A 2026 case from China’s Supreme People’s Court answers that question better than any textbook: not if the name is close enough to ride on someone else’s brand.
Here is the story, in plain terms.
The dispute: company name VS trademark
A company held licensing rights to the marks “六福” and “六福珠宝” — “Luk Fook” and “Luk Fook Jewellery” — well-known in the jewellery trade.
A competitor registered and used the sign “金六福尚美”, and also folded that similar wording into its corporate name. The first instance court found trademark infringement and unfair competition. An appeal court agreed on the trademark point, but drew back on the company-name point: because the defendant was using its full registered company name, the appeal court thought that alone kept things clean.
The Supreme People’s Court saw it differently.
The “六福” mark was already well known. The jewellery competitor, operating in the same trade, could not plausibly claim ignorance. Putting a near-replica of that reputation-bearing wording into a company name was, in the Court’s words, an attempt to latch onto another business’s goodwill. And the decisive point was not whether the name was formally used correctly. It was whether consumers would still be confused.
They would be.
So the Supreme People’s Court restored the finding of unfair competition.
Why this matters to foreign entrepreneurs
Many overseas founders treat Chinese entity registration and trademark registration as two separate errands. They are not.
You can walk out of the company registry with a perfectly valid business licence — and still be sued six months later because your company name sounds like, looks like, or “completes” a local brand that already owns the mindshare.
The Chinese courts are not impressed by the argument: “But I used my own full name, exactly as registered.”
If the public still thinks “this must be affiliated with the famous one,” that is the kind of confusion the Anti-Unfair Competition Law is built to stop.
The rule, stated plainly
Registering a corporate name that contains wording similar to someone else’s registered trademark is not automatically illegal. But when three things line up, you are in trouble:
The earlier mark is well known or at least well established in the trade.
You are in the same or a neighbouring business.
Even honest, full-name use still makes customers believe there is a link.
At that point, “I followed the company registry” is not a defence. It just shows you cleared the easy hurdle and missed the expensive one.
What foreign founders should actually do
Before locking in a Chinese company name, do more than search the administration bureau’s name list. Check trademarks, well-known brands, franchise names, and even famous slogans in your category. If your proposed name contains a fragment of an established local brand — “XX Gold”, “XX Fu”, “XX Home”, “XX Pro” — assume a Chinese court may see it as borrowing reputation, not building your own.
And if your brand is the established one, this case is good news. China’s top court has made clear that a later operator cannot hide behind a registered company name while quietly feeding off your recognition.
The bigger mindset shift
In China, a name is not just an administrative label. It is a commercial asset, a reputation carrier, and sometimes a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Pick a name because it is yours — not because it sounds a little like someone who already won the market.
That distinction is boring to hear in a board meeting and very expensive to learn in a courtroom.
General business guidance, not legal advice. For China trademark and company-name clearance, speak with a TMRegisterChina IP Expert.
The information source: https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/511301.html
